The journey toward (or away from) a God is one that every single human being on this planet takes. Each person’s individual experience in doing so is different and unique, yes, but the fundamental process of wrestling with the possibility of something greater is a personal step as inevitable and commonplace as taking one’s first physical steps, or riding a bike for the first time with no training wheels, or trying (and being very confused by) one’s first sip of soda.
Faith — losing it, finding it, mocking it, embracing it — is a common concept to us all, regardless of race, class, gender or any other division society has placed among us.
So why does Hollywood do such a shitty job portraying it on film?
The problem seems to stem from the chronic inability to tell Christian stories without some sort of underlying agenda, some sort of blanket statement to be made about believers or non-believers that reads more as the filmmaker trying to air grievances than tell an honest story. Either Christians are the judgy, closed-minded villains of movies like “Saved” and “Easy A,” or they’re the infallible, God-on-earth saviors of films like “The Blind Side.” There is apparently no room for religious characters with complexity, depth and insight. There is no room for people, only cardboard cutouts cut into the shapes of people, scribbled on with ideological accusations and self-affirmations.
And that’s why “Higher Ground,” the directorial debut of actress Vera Farmiga, is so refreshing. Finally, a movie that looks not just at the cross hanging around someone’s neck but at the heart beating steadily beneath it. Finally, a movie that shows that Christians, in addition to praying and baptizing and memorizing verses, also flirt their way out of speeding tickets and laugh at penis jokes and make fools of themselves in front of bathroom mirrors. Finally, a movie that proves that religion isn’t binary, isn’t a you-do or you-don’t kind of thing, but is a wonderful spectrum of hope and doubt and caution and warmth. Finally!
The film follows Corinne (played first by Farmiga’s younger sister, then later by Farmiga herself) along her zig-zagging relationship with Christ. She starts off as a quiet little girl who welcomes Jesus into her heart on a whim then forgets him as soon as young love enters the picture, takes her virginity, and gifts her with a child all too soon. A miracle escape from a near-fatal car crash reaffirms her faith, and she rides that wave of goodwill towards Christ for 20 years as she joins a close-knit religious sect until her faith is once again set spiraling by an admixture of misogynistic practices and the stark realities of a friend’s sudden illness.
Farmiga has long been a captivating and charismatic presence in front of the camera (see “Up In the Air” if you haven’t), and that presence is just as captivating, if a bit more subtle, behind it. Even this early on, she shows a great talent for crafting moments that stand out as special and charming and stay with the viewer, although at times this has the adverse effect of making the film seem disjointed, more like a series of episodes than a continuous arc. But man, what great moments they are!
In the end, “Higher Ground” culminates into one of the best directorial debuts in the past several years because its main concern is with telling a truthful, thoughtful story, and telling it well without pushing judgment or fulfilling an agenda. It’s filmmaking at its purest and we can thank God, and Vera Farmiga, for that.
